[maxerickson]

It isn't all that unlikely that new laws will be passed (for example, there were substantial reforms after Watergate/Nixon).

A big part of the problem is that a lot of the ethics rules surrounding the president are just norms, they aren't laws.

If we are real lucky the imperial office of the president will be neutered quite a lot.

[jacquesm]

> If we are real lucky the imperial office of the president will be neutered quite a lot.

This is my preferred outcome for the Trump administration: that it serves as a vaccine, a shot in the arm for those calling for more restrictions on what a single person can do to the country and that this helps to curb a future wanna-be emperor who is actually competent. Trump - fortunately - is a bungler, imagine the damage he could do if he was half as competent as he claims he is. That would be a much larger issue.

[cmurf]

Congressional Republicans are what what's been neutered quite a lot. Their approval is lower than Trump's, banks, and TV news. That's pretty bad. Their ability to find their tongues, let alone any useful policy making, is impressively bad.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx

If we are real lucky, the president will have resigned two weeks ago, so obviously we are already not lucky. What we have ahead of us is more of the forest fire in progress, damaging trust. That's what is being neutered, public trust in all of government. And that is risky.

http://www.people-press.org/2017/05/03/public-trust-in-gover...